Conquering Irelands highest mountain

Hags Tooth
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· We were up and started early so’s to head off for the big walk before a crowd. We set off for our climb around 9am with food and water all packed. We followed the well-trodden path along the river whilst enjoying the hills and scenery surrounding us. We had no idea what was to come! The lead up to the mountain itself was a good 1 and half hours in itself. Then the fun began with what they call the ‘devils ladder’ due to its track record of a few injuries. The beginning wasn’t too bad but the higher we got the more wobbly Jules got (shit scared basically) and therefore the slower we became! Kev powered on fine, checking out the view on the way up. The ladder took another good hour also. Once we’d reached the safety of flatter ground, Jules then found the courage to enjoy the views. It was here that we realised the enormity of what we had just climbed and how physically (not to mention mentally) tough it was. Tabletop Mountain was a breeze compared to this! The view in itself was breathtaking!!! Full of energy now and thinking we were close to the top, we powered on. The top of the mountain was covered in cloud so we really didn’t have any idea how far away we were from our 1039-meter high destination. Half an hour (at least) later we were still going, getting slower every step- aching badly. It was pure determination that kept us both going- nothing else. That bluddy mountain wasn’t going to beat us!!!!! We reached the summit, 3400 feet, at 1pm. HOORAYY! We stopped for a bight to eat for bout 20 mins and then it was back down again. It really felt like such an achievement for us both as so many don’t even make it half way before they get the shits and turn back!!! Little did the mountain know that it was dealing with 2 very stubborn, proud (and a little crazy) people! We had 3 groups of regular climbers overtake us, which was nice having a chat to others along the way. We headed down again, which was so much quicker. The first half was great, no jelly legs at this point. Devils ladder started off ok until Jules reached a steep area and froze half way down. At this point we were both getting over it (as you do after 6.5 hours) and the end of it couldn’t have come soon enough. As Kev did a kneecap and Jules just plain buggered, we trudged home like a pair of Grannies but…we made it(4pm)- we weren’t beaten! We have NEVER been so sore and sorry for ourselves after conquering Irelands highest mountain (Carrauntoohil in Magillycuddys Reeks) but geez it was worth it. We have never looked forward to warm showers like we did that arvo. We then drove to a great campsite up near Tarbert. Crashed straight away zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz